An ultrahigh-definition TV broadcasting standard based on an MPEG media transport (MMT) system, as a new media transport system, standardized by the MPEG, has been studied as a next-generation digital broadcasting system (e.g., refer to Patent Document 1). The MMT system is easily used with a combination of different transmission lines, and can be used for a plurality of transmission lines for broadcasting and communication, in common.
In the TV broadcasting standard based on the MMT system, streaming media of a broadcast program body, such as video, audio, and subtitles, is transmitted in a timed media processing unit (MPU) format, whereas a system that transmits a data broadcasting application, such as a hyper text markup language (HTML) document, as well as control information on the application, in a non timed MPU format, is also prescribed.
In addition, the data broadcasting application can be broadly divided into a program-linked data broadcasting application linked with a broadcast program and a program-non-linked data broadcasting application, such as news or weather forecasting, not particularly linked with the broadcast program. In addition, a plurality of delivery segments for the data broadcasting application is estimated to be present. For example, management is estimated that a key station being a production source for a broadcast program body, mainly adds an application linked with a broadcast program, whereas each local station being a distribution provider also adds its own application. Each local station can provide information that is not necessarily linked with the broadcast program body but is closely related to a region thereof, such as weather forecasting or local news, through its own application so as to advantageously achieve a data broadcast service with fine granularity for each region.
For local station management of data broadcasting and hybrid cast using broadcast markup language (BML) in filing the present application, transmission of a data broadcasting application as well as control information relating to the application, is considered so as to be independently performed for each delivery segment (for a key station and for local stations) in consideration of preventing demarcation of responsibility and burdens of distribution facilities of the local stations from increasing, in particularly commercial broadcasting.
In studying a broadcasting standard based on the next-generation MMT system, a demand for each local station to add its own application, in the commercial broadcasting, should be sufficiently considered. However, when all data broadcasting applications individually provided from a plurality of the delivery segments, are integrated into a single channel so as to be managed, each local station is required to perform addition and replacement work for its own application with respect to a data flow of the data broadcasting prepared by the key station. As a result, excessive distribution costs are imposed on the local stations, and additionally there is a risk that the work is unsatisfactory.